Page 47 of Shaken Knot Stirred

Every alpha in a 50-foot radius snapped their head around toward Beg. That wasn’t a full bark, but you didn’t pull that stuff in polite company. Aria curled her arm around the omega’s waist to keep her knees from giving out.

“Beg, not the time or the place,” Win said through gritted teeth.

“I’m just playing,” he winked at the girl who took a step behind Aria. “Since this seems to be a family affair, I thought I’d help. We all know Twinkle Toes over here needs someone else to run his show.”

I bit back a growl.

“How about I take another pack member from you?” Beg looked me dead in the eye and snapped his fingers for the omega. She shrieked. Her knees buckled at the full bark. Pay was the first to throw a punch. Beg ducked, and it was on.

I put a hand on Aria’s back, knowing she had the omega, and pushed them both toward the curtain to keep them out of the way. Scents were thick in the air. Bystanders, alphas and betas alike, became participants in the chaos.

My vision dimmed with rage. I pulled a body off the mass of people grappling in the wide aisle in front of the lounge. I heard him hit the ground. I grabbed another, spinning him as I wrenched his arm back.

My growl tore through the space. Win threw his shoulder into me, hauling me up onto the dais and out of the melee. Beg slunk into the crowd as security arrived on the scene.

A camera flash stunned me momentarily. I blinked to get my eyes working. Win had an arm around my waist to keep me rooted in place. I scanned the sea of people for Beg. His bald head shouldn’t be too hard to find.

Her near-white hair was like a homing beacon. She had turned toward me, toward the chaos, seconds before the crowd swallowed her too.

“Moxie.”

Now I fought with Win. He had me by the back of the suit jacket like I was a toddler. I shook him off and dove into the sea of bodies, carelessly pushing people out of my way. Like a thousand chains holding me down, I fought and swam my way to the door.

She should be here. She should be right here. I grabbed the shoulder of a blonde and spun her around. Not Moxie. I spun in panic at the elevator bay. There’s nowhere else to go.

Moxie was here. Moxie was in Port Haven.

Win caught up to me. He grabbed my chin. I watched his lips move, but the buzzing in my ears made them impenetrable to sound. He pushed me out the double doors. A cool evening air was a slap to my senses, but it didn’t completely clear my head.

He pushed me down the plaza stairs, his finger digging into my bicep. I broke his hold and whipped off my suit jacket. I was suffocating. I wiped my forehead on my sleeve.

Pay grabbed my throat and banged my back against the pier railing.

“Fucking Beg,” he muttered pulling down my eyelids to check my pupils.

“Get off,” I finally said, shoving Pay back a step. I needed to breathe.

Maybe I was hallucinating. Maybe she wasn't here. I felt my pulse race. The last thing I needed was to go off the deep with rut.

Pay and Win herded me towards sleek cigarette boat at the end of the dock, It glistened as it bobbed gently in the water.They both had apartments downtown but spent much of their time in the Floating District, and Win favored his boat to a car,

"Fucking Beg. We should have run his mama out of the pack long before she squeezed him out.” Both Win and I ignored Pay'scrack. As much as we hated our brother, he was pack and served an essential function.

All societies needed balance. Betas balanced alphas and omegas and the Pax balanced the more refined debauchery that Paramore in the Floating District catered to. When our family built this city, and the pleasure districts, they understood that. Alphas especially needed a place burn off excess energy and not wreak havoc in society. The Floating District and the Paramore served more upscale client who much prefer be surrounded by beauty while they did questionable things. The Mired District gave respectability to barely legal activities. There are many who believed the city couldn't function if there weren't fight pits and gambling. At the end of the day, Beg and win are two sides of the same coin.

“Shut it, Pay. That is not helpful.” Win tugged his suit jacket straight and ran a palm over his black, short-cropped hair.

The two of them huddled up, phones glued to their ears, already doing damage control.

Somehow, I got my shaking fingers to behave enough to pull out my phone. I ignored the last blurry image and sent a text:

Star:

she’s in Port Haven.

Chapter 25

Lana

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